Sunday, July 1, 2007

Dog Grooming Tools

Dog Grooming Tools: Brushing on a regular basis removes loose hair and keeps the skin clean. This reduces the chance of getting any skin diseases or parasites. Natural oils are more evenly distributed over the coat, which allow individual hairs to lie more smoothly and look shinier.For long haired and double-coated breeds, brushing will remove dead hair from the undercoat before it mats, and new hair growth will be stimulated. It also allows shampoo to penetrate down to the skin during bathing.

How often should I brush?

That depends on the type of coat your dog has. If it is long and thick, you'll spend more time and need to brush more often. If your dog's coat is short and smooth, a quick once-over a couple of times per week does the job. Dogs with long, flowing hair should be brushed every day. Dogs with coats somewhere in between these two benefit from a brushing 3 to 5 times a week.

What type of brush should I use on my dog?

The type of brush depends on your dog's coat. You may actually find that using a combination of two different brushes gives you the best results for your dog's coat.

Slicker Brush:

The slicker brush is a good brush to use on all breeds to remove dead hair. This curved-wire bristle brush is especially recommended for long or dense coats, and tangled and matted coats.

Pin Brush:

The pin brush works well on dogs with long, flowing hair such as the Lhasa Apso and the Yorkshire Terrier. The tips of the bristles are rounded and smooth to avoid skin abrasions.

Traditional Bristle Brush:

Those brushes that look most like human brushes are used to polish and add shine to the coat. These work best on dogs with short coats, and dogs with long, flowing coats, such as Afgan hounds or Maltese.

Hound Glove:

A hound glove has the bristles of a slicker brush embedded into a glove, or mitt. This serves the same purpose as a slicker brush, but some prefer slipping their hand into a glove rather than holding the handle of a brush.

Rubber Grooming Mitt:

These mitts are used on shorthaired dogs to polish and add shine to the coat once dead hairs are removed.

Undercoat Rake:

The best-kept secret of the grooming tools! Also known as a rake comb, it is ideal for removing dead undercoat hair and is best used on coarse-textured or large breed dogs, such as the Golden Retriever, Collie or Samoyed. You'll generally see one to three rows of teeth that are long and spaced far apart.

Combs:

Combs can be fine-toothed, medium-toothed, wide-toothed, or a combination of these. The fine-toothed comb is used for soft, thin or silky coats. The medium-toothed comb is used for average coat textures. The wide-toothed comb is used for thick, heavy coats.

Flea Combs:

Flea combs are very fine-toothed combs that are generally used for removing parasites. However, this comb is also very useful as an extra-fine-toothed facial comb that can remove residue and dirt caked in the facial hair around the eyes.